You know I have been downloading and reading articles on a variety of self-improvement for quite a number of years now. Everything on “How to manifest positively”, “Positive mantras that will change your life”, website that elucidate that they will train your mind to better achieve what you really want. I even read material on numerology and Horoscopes that profess will guide you to a better more abundant life…..the list is endless of what is available, and hey some of it I found as downright hocus pocus and just trying to get a buck out of you. I am not offended by that, everybody is trying to make a living. As Barnum and Baily said so many years ago….”There is a sucker born every minute”…..I suppose at time I am or have been that sucker but equally I console myself in saying that I need be cognizant of, and see the broader spectrum.
One cannot deny or detect something totally unless one has experienced the snake oil salesman expounding his wares. Now I do feel that I can detect much earlier the pattern. “Come right in…come and see the greatest show on Earth…..you will be amazed by the lady with two head….terrified by the wolf boy captured from the dark recesses of Africa…..step right up…..” I’m sure most have seen this scenario played out in the old movies……once inside you discover that it was more hype than fact…..

Don’t get me wrong I BELIEVE there is a very large amount of legitimate and valuable information out there as well, but you must develop a discerning eye and ear. There are many motivators out there which will do much good even if you only follow some of the advice that they offer.
You must also bear in mind that there are NO magic pill or formula that will transform you from rags to riches overnight. I do not believe that, no matter how much they try to sell it as being true. I do believe that you can improve yourself; you can improve your situation, no matter how dire it seems right now.
I think, and certainly for me I have found it to be the case and Earl Nightingale expressed it for me very early on in an audio track I listened to….”the magic word”…..ATTITUDE …it is a track well worth its weight in gold. For without it you will never see the opportunities that life places in your path. With the wrong attitude you will certainly see all the obstacles that are there laying just next to the opportunity but your dark shade glasses will limit your field of view in the same way as in the horse and buggy days.
The driver placed blinders over the eyes of his pulling horse to prevent it from seeing the grass or anything of its own interest on the side of the road. The driver limited the horse’s field of view for the simple reason that he wished it to go only in one direction, forward of his choosing. When he needed the horse to veer to the right he would disclosed to the horse…hey here is a new path for you to follow…the horse soon learned that he needed to go in that direction.
The horse would never remember that from his earlier distance view there was a road to the right, but now, as he is nearer the blinders prevent him from seeing that it is there, so he never turns, unless the driver moves the blinders to show it to him, at which time the horse takes ACTION and turns.
That is really the center of my comment at the start. All of the material you read can only achieve ONE thing….To shows you that there are a myriad of opportunities out there but YOU and ONLY YOU must take ACTION if you are to achieve your goal or dream. The action required may be easier if you have the support of others around you but even if you feel alone, if you WANT something you are the one that must make it happen. It will never happen on its own. Sometimes it may feel like it all happen by itself but in reality you had to have made subtle decisions to talk to this person or visit a site or read this book or article which perhaps very subtly guided you toward your dream or desired ambition. Once there, you have to make a conscious decision to take that opportunity you might feel just fell into your lap. Many for fear of the unknown or comfort would let that opportunity slide by and grumble later of what they “should” have or could have done.
So DREAM and ACTION those dreams into reality. You will be the better for it, and likely the naysayers just might be at your back saying…. “that lucky ba…t..d, opportunity just keep falling in his lap….falls in a bucket of sh…t and comes out smelling like roses….I’m sure you heard and or perhaps even said those things yourself……

All material is copyrighted of the author and cannot be distributed without the express consent.

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These days, I think one would be hard pressed not to see some advert, or popup windows whenever surfing the net, with hype against bullying. I believe it’s been around for as long as human kind has learned to communicate. It is fueled by many factors, jealousy, greed, hate, and many other human emotions. No I am not a shrink or any other professional trying to define it. I am just an average Joe, just like you.
The world can be a cruel place to live in, particularly if you let it. It can also be a place of great joy and wonder IF you choose to see it. It will always show you what you are looking for.
If you listen to self-help material, be it video, audio, or books, and they will ALL tell you that the universe will give to you what you truly seek. The point is that our brains are geared to focus on what we think about. It’s the sub-conscious that drives our thoughts NOT the conscious as you may have thought. I know that is hard to believe but it is a fact. I think the following words from Mahatma Gandhi give some reflection to this……it is what is deep inside of you, not the surface that truly influences your behavior…

So how does this affect bullying? I suppose it does not change it but I suggest that it might alter your perception of it.
Bullying will not go away no matter how much we wish it would. It IS a part of human make up. Yes it would be nice if we all lived in a utopic world where everybody gets along and there were no wars or discord. Or would it? How can you tell when something is bad? It is only by comparison to good that one can evaluate degrees of “good” or “bad”.

Like it or not human kind advances through adversity not conformity and bullying is an adversity.

The key is WHAT you do with adversity that matters. I would wager that ALL of us have at one point in our life been subjected TO or DOLED OUT some degree of bullying, …. Come on be honest….. We may not be proud of it, but none of us are free of uttering some unkind word or subjecting someone to some degree of intimidation.
In my day many parent would suggest to you, to provide your antagonist with a swift right cross and be done with it….that was then, things were different.
As I watch my grand-daughter grow I know that sooner or later the question will come up, but not until she interacts more with her peers…yes school age….the day will come when I hear……”grand-pa….I have this girls or boy at school that ….”. What will I say? What will I do? I cannot say at this time, what my actions will be when the time comes. Certainly it will depend greatly on my frame of mind at the time, and the degree of injustice. Of course one always hopes to dispense the Wisdom of Solomon, but after all I am human and subject to all its failing as well as its splendors.
So in short bullying only matters in how we handle it. In today’s litigious society the social media provides a factor that was NOT present in my day…. Today we do not have to contend as in my day of “he said” … “she said”. It is right there displayed in all of its ugliness in print or photographic evidence. However equally important and more than ever we, individually need to not behave in a manner which can feed our enemies eye and ears. Our electronic footprint is extremely huge, larger than most realize until it’s too late. (Name) tagged on Facebook, twitter…etc.
None of us will eliminate bullying, and we all have to deal with it at some time. How we deal with it may make us great or lowly….
Chris Rock…..
In 2007, Chris went so far as to tell host James Lipton of Bravo’s Inside the Actors Studio that bullying was “the defining moment of my life … it made me who I am”. He even thanked the pack of boys who regularly “kicked my a–, spit in my face, and kicked me down the stairs,” because the experiences not only helped him to think quick on his feet, but also fueled his drive to succeed.
Jacki Chan…..
“ I was bullied quit a lot in my Peking Opera School. I allowed myself to be bullied because I was scared and didn’t know how to defend myself. I was bullied until I prevented a new student from being bullied. By standing up for him I learned to stand up for myself.”
Michael J. Fox…..
“One’s dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but it can never be taken away unless it is surrendered.”

The web is full of support against bullying and yet people are devastated and choose poorly, even in some cases, to end their life because of it. In closing bullying will not go away no matter how hard we wish it. Let’s teach our kids how to deal with it and litigation is not the answer. Teach our kids early how to defuse it, or provide them with enough LOVE and Support so that they can see it as just an exposure to insensitivity and a phase that all of us are exposed to, in varying degree. We must continue to walk through it. Let’s provide them the path to keep walking, and not to stop and dwell on the hurt that can be imposed by the action of the truly ignorant…..

The place where you made your stand never mattered. Only that you were there… and still on your feet.
Stephen King

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Over the years, I have listened to many hours, I mean many hours, of audio recordings. I’ve heard quite a variety, as well, from physical medicine to philosophy, from paranormal activity, to holistic healing, from historical events to political dogma, from time management to social and personal relationship; I even listened for pure entertainment to the odd novel. The audio list which is available today, some might say is near endless, and growing at a faster pace than it has ever before. I think no matter what you listen to, most of them can and likely will have some influence on your perception of what we are, physically or how we as humans behave socially. I think even in any novel’s story, there is some aspect of human behavior which is alluded to or highlighted in the story line.
Suffice it to say that I have NOT searched for the human bizarre, as I believe “that” to be a sad state of affairs which I do not care to acknowledge, or devote any of my time to.
I have always looked to find subjects matter which offered me at least a “slight” degree of personal interest, or an incite into human behavior.

Certainly for me, using audio files I found it much easier to explore material that I know I never would have read, in book format; but having listened to that material now, I am happier to have explored it. Some of my own fringe material however, certainly not all, but some, I have listened to several times. Nonetheless, even though I enjoyed the material, I know I still would not read the book. Why not you say? Well maybe because as an audio file I feel as if someone is talking to “me”, telling me about something or someone. I guess researchers would term me an auditory learner. I do often repeat things to myself when I am learning new material. Hearing someone else say it out loud in my ear I guess achieves that part of me which requires it. Perhaps another reason is because I normally listen to my material when I am alone. Reading text, to me requires concentration, and limits my movements; I typically need to be sitting down to do it. Maybe as many would attest I tend to be restless and always need to be doing something. Listening to an audio file means I can do other non-critical things, like walking, yet still absorb ideological content. I have found audio material to be excellent company when you are on a long drive by yourself or just spending time alone.
One audio area that I have concentrated on over the years would be classified as “self-improvement” material. I think they are by far the most numerous in my collection of some twenty five to thirty Giga bites. Am I better for it? I believe that I am but I suspect that I might be a bit biased also. People who have known me over the years may, have a different answer than my own.
What I CAN say, is that within me, I do feel better about myself. The world and life still holds mysteries, which I hope to explore, and hardships which I hope to overcome as well. I have gained confidence which has allowed me to even start a blog, as well as other writings which are not things I would have risked or considered, several years ago.
Having listened to a good quantity of material and I think many that I have searched out for one reason or another appear to be older material. Items written back in the earlier mid-20th century. That seems to have attracted my attention more so than the new age programs you see and hear on infomercials or the web of today.
Many of today’s speakers that I have spot listened to I find pretty consistently, say pretty much the same thing as the older material that I have. For sure new age speakers, each try to put their own spin on the rhetoric, trying to make it sound like they have just discovered or invented it on their own, but you know, since I have listened to so many audio files now, I would suggest that the new eschew the lessons from old. Masters like Napoleon Hill, Dale Carnegie, and Earl Nightingale. Perhaps those individuals from the past, also took their cues from older masters as well, I don’t know. But the important thing for me I guess is that the lessons appear to hold true no matter when in history they were written or spoken. I guess for me that, in itself gives the material a strong degree of truth. Our present and our futures are built from the past. Someday check out quotes on line for things people say today. Likely you will find that it might have first been uttered in the Roman era, or the Greeks and many others long since dead; like Aesop’s fables. Things can be modernized but the lesson and formulas appear to remain the same and true.
What started my own Audio Venture was perhaps 15 years ago on a Sunday morning flea market traipsing. I came across a plastic case, in good condition, with a picture on the cover of a white haired older gentleman, clean looking as most of them are, with the Title “You were Born Rich” by Bob Proctor. Well I thought, “I always would enjoy having more money” then I thought “Ha… bet you it’s all about being rich in life or has some religious connotation, he looks a bit like a preacher.” Inside were six or eight cassettes, each with its own title printed. I believe the seller had four dollars written on it, with a publisher price of perhaps sixty five dollars, don’t recall for sure. I don’t even think I tried to talk him down, which is very unusual for me.
Anyway I remember thinking, “can’t be that good, or about financial gains, if this person is here selling it, and so cheaply. He certainly does not look rich, or maybe he just never learned the lessons,” I chuckled to myself for the thought. Needless to say I made the purchase.
I travel a lot so time to myself, is often not in short supply. Well, to make a long story short I found the tapes absolutely brilliant. I loved the message and his voice delivery was excellent for me. I like to think that I am my own thinking man, so for sure there were some passages which might have raised my eyebrows some, upon reflection, but all and all I thought the material well worth the time to listen. The message was in essence (in a small nut shell) you can gain financially and morally without feeling guilty and be a better person for it.
When I came home that trip I invested in four small handheld tape cassette players, blank tapes and carrying bags to hold it all together. The MP3 market was not really the develop industry that it is today. “I know copyright infringement.” Well it is what it is; I was more interested in getting the message to my children. I honestly do not believe that any of them EVER listened to them however. The lawyers can chastise me for doing the act, but fate has reduced it to a meaningless function. Every time I queried my kids about it, there was always some excuse as to why they had not listened to it yet.
I am positive that today, (though that was many years ago) none of them could tell me what happened to the kits I made for them,…. even if their life depended on it. Another proof that you can bring a horse to water but the horse MUST drink for him or herself. (need political correctness these days)
For me, my life study in the audio self-help arena had kicked off in earnest. Bob introduced me to names and ideas I had never heard of before as he introduced source material for himself, like Napoleon Hill, Earl Nightingale, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Russell Conwell, and an absolute favorite of mine, “The Richest Man in Babylon by George S Clason; information I, believe everyone and especially young people, should be made to read or listen to that one, if none other.
These are but a few of the names which I have since researched and listened to. Most, several times over, some many times over, and every time I found a new insight or understanding. I have carried all of them with me on every trip from that day forward. I believe it has help me to broaden my views from financial facts to commerce history, and market predictions, from political views, to social injustices, from medical revelations to psychic beliefs, from religious societies, to belief in the Divine, from human relationship, to human tragedy and comedy. The spectrum is virtually limitless and growing by leaps and bounds every day.
One interesting point which I have also found is that there are websites like “Learn Out Loud”. Another is “Librivox” which create audio files from old, no longer in print material and it’s free to the public. It is of course of different quality than what is available on the commercial market since Librivox recruit the help of people like you and me to read the material and upload it.
All these tapes which I have purchased over the years and a good majority in second hand book stores have accumulated to a sizable physical mass. You could put them on a book shelf as you would any other book but there is a better solution. In my travels I am limited in carrying weight so all of the material had to be converted into an MP3 format which can now all fit nicely onto one small SD chip.
Once you are done with those bulky CDs, tapes, and records, I suggest donating them to the Institute for the blind, in your area. Perhaps more than anyone else they can appreciate the spoken word. I am pretty sure that many, a blind person shares similar interest to you.
My initial reason for this article was to discuss “Core Beliefs” but having talked about my audio adventures I think has and continues to influence my own core beliefs. At least I hope that they do, and in a positive way.
Many of the self-improvement audio will spell out formulas, and try to make you believe that if you follow it to the letter you will be rich, or famous, or healthy beyond your dreams. I think that “in essence” all of it bears some grains of truth. The hard part I think is in the BELIEF. For it all to work it’s more than just mantras that you might use to convince yourself that you are a true believer. But belief in itself is more than knowing or a thought…… and with that I will conclude with words from

Not so long ago I made a purchase at one of the local stores. As I was looking at the teller’s machine for the card insertion point, so that it could read the “chip” on my card, the attendant serving me, a young girl perhaps in her late teens, exclaimed….” Oh you don’t need to do that, you have one of the new cards,… here, just tap the card”…In my stupor trying to understand what she had just said I looked at her. She just as quickly grabbed my card and “tapped” it to the screen. Immediately the machine responded with its whirring sound and spit out the paper receipt which indicated that the sale was now complete.
As she looked at me with a smirk on her face, no doubt because of my own dumb looking expression trying to grasp what had just happened, I exclaimed ….. “but I did not enter my code to accept the purchase”. With a continued girlish giggle she exclaimed with no more of a what to do than…”oh you don’t have to, your card has the tap feature. See this little icon in the corner,” a small transmit signal strength display, “that means you can just tap the card.”
She continued to look at me with that youthful grin, no doubt proud of herself that she had once more educated some old ignorant geezer of the new way of shopping. Of which she appeared to be much more cognizant and comfortable of the process than I am.
Well, in my defense, I would not exactly call myself an “old ignorant geezer” but I am for sure old enough to be her grandfather. I grabbed my purchase and left the counter, mind wheeling and wondering about this new card feature.
The transaction certainly was a new one on me. I had not heard of the new card characteristic now making its way into the market place. I suppose in that sense I was technologically ignorant. Now I do travel a lot globally, and often see banking card features overseas before I see them here in North America. This tap feature however was a new one on me, but not one that I would quickly accept at face value. This merited further investigation for sure. I set out to discover just exactly what this “TAP” feature is. I asked various vendors as well as my banking establishment. As they all explained to me that the new cards now transmit a signal that the vendors can read and seamlessly complete the purchase transaction. No numbers to forget. Naturally,I exclaimed that if it can do this without my entering any secret pin number, then “ANYBODY” with my card can make their own transaction, using my card, and this could happen without my ever knowing it.
I must be the stupid one because both vendors and banking tellers quickly and without any alarm iterated that …. “of course that could happen but the bank limits the amount to some small pre-determine value that you determine. As well some merchants reduce that amount, even more”… As well the banking tellers always iterated that if you should lose your card the need to alert the bank “AS SOON” as you are aware that your card is missing. Doing further research on the web I see much text from the financial institution repeating that the burden is on me to guard my card AND alert the bank quickly, blah blah….the legalese jargon is too long to point everything here but makes for an interesting read on how they develop slumped shoulders.
Well I don’t know about getting with the times, but I think this is inherently wrong. For sure it has a certain degree of speed and convenience, which the marketing departments are quick to outline for you. They are however much slower to indicate the potential liabilities that it also gives the thieves of this world Cart Blanche to shadow you.
Now I agree that I am not technologically the most savvy and I know that out there, are hackers, or just plain seedy people which are way more advanced than I am, and FAR less scrupulous than myself. Let’s look briefly at these transmitting cards for a moment. If I can buy online an attachment for my phone which lets me scan credit cards, then I am sure that somewhere is also available a tap reader, whether on open market or the seedy alleys. What is the transmit distance of these cards? Likely not far, but it does not matter, I am sure that the seedy engineers of this world can create signal enhancers to increase whatever signal emitted. Once upon a time a pick pocket had to physically touch you to extract $10 or $20 dollars from my pocket. Now he just needs to scan me. Once he has my code and he is smart he will not empty my account. Taking a random few dollars here from various people could render someone a good wages,….TAX free. How long before any of us ever notice that a ten dollar coffee charge was not done by ourselves. Does anyone EVER check, absolutely every charge printed on their bank account? Carrying this thought a bit further if one can find a card reader why not a card creator. My card certainly was created by a machine. Now potentially two of my cards “could” exist. Which vendor would ever raise a suspicious eyebrow because a transaction did not go through? After all it’s for such a small amount, as stated earlier. Any thief could easily and believably shrug off the inconvenience and just pull out a different card or pay cash, since the tap card will equally work at the ATM. When I spoke to one of my banking person I expressed that this feature HAS TO BE youth driven. I was told then that no older people wanted the new cards too. Perhaps, but I am sure older people are the minority. I for one cannot believe that we are in such a rush that we cannot spend an extra thirty seconds max, to enter a four digit code.
I believe that our younger to middle aged people are so technology driven that they are blind to the potential hazards. I also believe that the banks are showing a certain degree of irresponsibility in providing it just because people want it. Is the market such that the fear of “ if we don’t provide it, someone else will and we lose all those transactions revenue.”
I often thought of trying to do the math on how many ATM transaction any bank does in the run of a day. At one to three dollars a pop, for bank visiting users I am sure it would scare most people, more automation and less people.
No, I am sorry, but for me, I have requested the feature to be TURNED OFF at my banking institution. I will depend a bit longer on my stupid four digit code, and follow the bank’s instruction: “always guard and protect your pin”.
What if I forget my pin you say? Well I guess I will do without my coffee today and visit my nearest branch to get my numbers or a NEW one re-initiated. At least if I “drop” my card on the floor, nobody can pick it up and buy their coffee from MY pocket, much less slowly and unexpectedly bleed me for months or possibly years when I get a new card.

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Recently I left my employment of 10 years to venture out somewhat on my own. Some would say that to leave the security, if there is such a thing, of a good employer is foolish. To do it at age 60 I guess the same people would regard that as definite grounds for psychiatric evaluation.

Well I cannot speak for anyone else of course, but I have to admit it is a scary prospect. Now some may also think that it was a move of desperation. You know, the writing is on the wall, leave before they put you out. Again some will no doubt speak in hush voices insinuating a variety of doom and gloom.

Well I am here to say that it was none of those things. I think my previous employer was just as surprise as I was, as were the rest of my colleagues, that I actually did it. I certainly was comfortable where I was and certainly worked for a good company that ALWAYS took care of my needs. They often left me to my own design to channel my energies on their behalf. Well times will be different now as I must now make my own road. I read about going alone often, just never thought that I would be brave enough. Well what is done, is done, and now we must move on.

However, let us return to the text title I listed above and subject of discussion today. Since I am now on my own, a “thought” was thrown out that a specific symbology or trademark to commensurate my new direction, would not be a bad thing. We could use it on invoicing, business cards, and Lord knows where else. Luckily, I have good artistic talent to help me out and since I need to wait for official documentation to be processed, I may as well keep busy.

We formed a company, that is, my wife and I. No in case you are wondering, she was NOT aware of my plans to quit, before I executed them. Some wives I suppose would have considered this alone was grounds for divorce, never mind the psych ward. No she did not visit any lawyers, at least not that I was made aware of anyway. Nor did any ambulance show up in my driveway asking me to test drive a new white sport jacket. That she certainly could do being a nurse and in constant contact with ambulatory services. Not to mention that the mental health hospital sits only across the street from the community hospital where she work.

No we continue on our life journey together. I guess she decided that come hell or high water she would be going down with the ship. Let’s hope that our old scow will weather yet a few more storms. But I digress yet again. Let us return to our new symbology of discussion. Where does one start? This is somewhat how we did it.

My last name starts with a “G” and my wife is a Gemini, so I figured a “G” needed to be in there somewhere. Certainly my work has always been around water and my wife grew up near the ocean with a grand-father that fished all of his life. Both would warrant that an element of water be there. I am an Aquarian, so once more we have water. We had two children, boys. Our family has grown as well with a daughter in law and one serious girlfriend. Of course, we cannot forget our little angel the granddaughter. Humm, … all elements to be worked in somehow.

My wife initiated the concept from which I built on. Not an unusual premise for us. Of course, one would hope that this new venture would, hold long into the future, past the time when we no longer are in a position to care. Like it, or not, it will happen to all of us. Sorry for my getting a bit philosophical.

Therefore, without any further ado here is the design we created. No doubt, it will see a few tweaks here and there. Changes I suppose mostly because I never seem to be able to leave things alone. However I rather like the looks of it myself so far.

Let me break down the elements for you. The largest component is of course the “G” which must pull double duty. As mentioned earlier it is the start of our name, but the following text “EMINI” of course completes my wife’s astral sign. It is capitalized because as she has always done, she supports and often bears the weight of all our family efforts. She is central to our sanity or insanity and all of us revolve around her in one fashion or another. She never gets a break and is always buffeted by the life around her. So in keeping with that comment we use the water elements to elaborate.

The water waves can be seen in turmoil all around the G because our family I don’t believe has ever been at rest. There always seems to be something going on. Naturally much of that turmoil can be attributed to my Aquarian influence. Therefore my astral symbol sits behind all of it, continuously pouring in new ideas and energy into the wave. Here a small point of contention from my son the artist. At my insistence there is water turbidity in front of the G. “But dad that is not a natural water wave motion”. “No son put it in”, I urged him. Now he can learn why.

That turbidity at the front, is caused by your mother trying to put on the brakes whenever I get going with some new hair brain plan. Of course, that brake often creates the required second look and re-think.
Now as we past all of that broiling water and forward turbidity, the water calms down and flows easily under our children, as they ride the wave. This comprises the “Holdings” text portion of the logo. It is smaller because it looks to the future and by artistic decree as size decreases, we create a vanishing point. This is further re-enforced by a reduced “Inc” text size.

Well there you have it. The what’s, and the why’s. Not really earth shattering stuff but it helps to occupy my mind. I guess it’s just the way that works for me.

Now onward into the new adventure, I hope you have enjoyed this short descriptive narration………..where did I leave my urn full of water……it was on my shoulder only moments before……HEY kids, anyone see …….lol

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My youngest son has been working as an audio engineer for a little over a year now. Recently a studio hired him to be the audio engineer for a product advertisement for a major retail store head quartered in Toronto Ontario Canada. In the hiring process, it seems that the producers were a bit shy on real life people to film while using their new tool line.
They asked my son if anyone around him would mind trying out the tools and willing to be filmed doing it. Of course, there would be some required questions pertaining to the tools themselves while speaking on camera. As my sons and I are constantly renovating, and using tools are not really in short supply, he tentatively volunteered me to be one of their candidates.
Of course talking at length has never been an issue for me so when my son approached me, I was only too glad to oblige. The fact that it was a good paying job for him only made it that much more satisfying. The opportunity to work with him professionally in his new career was equally most satisfying.
The filming day started around ten am with my outlining for the producers, the jobs that I had lined up, which could best demonstrate their tools. The camera and audio equipment was set up, and ready to roll. My son outfitted me with an additional body microphone, not that I have a soft voice by any means.
They directed me from which angle they would be filming and what they expected me to do. I executed each task as needed. A question period then followed to describe my opinions for the tool’s performance. With what I thought was only a few retakes, to make sure they had enough footage and dialog to cut and splice as needed later, we moved on to the next task.
By five o’clock, we completed as many task as possible and all the equipment was broken down in the unmistakable fashion of the movie industry, quickly. Everybody appeared pleased with my performance but you know show biz……”Oh we loved you” ……”you did great” …. “Of course we will call you later” ……only never to be heard from again. Ha ha ha
Well no matter. I hope that they do call but frankly, I won’t wait by the phone or lose sleep over it. Certainly I won’t be quitting my day job just yet…..ha ha ha, Never mind starting to look for an agent, even funnier.
All and all it was a memorable day, which I hope can be repeated again some time. Oh, they did eventually call, well in today’s format, it was an email. It wasn’t to offer me a contract, tears running down my cheeks, but to give me the link where I could view my performance.
Hit the play button and judge for yourself how I did.

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For quite some time now, we in Canada have been subjected to bickering within the Parliamentary House of Commons about questionable expenditures for some senators …..
Anyone who has a job, with expense reports, KNOWS that many, expenditures, become questionable and subject to interpretation. It is always resolved with a quick nod from some superior, yay or nay, final. This issue for “me” whether the expense in question, is legitimate or not is of no real consequence.
I offer to my fellow Canadians that the question that the opposition SHOULD be asking and debating is the whole Senate expense. Of course, we have no fears that this issue will ever be tabled since most Canadians already know that the Senate is NOTHING more than a retirement home for party faithful. It does not really matter which political party is in power since one of the first functions they do, once elected, is to fill whatever vacant seats available with one of their own cronies. Of course, seat availability only comes upon a previous member’s death. Therefore, to hope that our parliamentarians will ever discuss the abolition of the Senate is not likely since it forms in truth part of their retirement package.
It is not like as Senators; they ever have to report to work to be paid, so in that view what is the difference if we pay for questionable logging expense for Senators. We are paying for Senators who have not reported to work, may as well pay for logging that they did not use. Amazingly, NO one in Parliament is questioning his or her absence. They do not even have to use up a sick day, or vacation day, personal family day or anything; they just do not need to be there. What about that? THAT tells me that they DO nothing, period end of sentence.
I am always amazed at how the opposition stand up in the House of Commons and put banal questions to the Premier or other Parliamentarians who sit across from them with a straight face as if they have asked a question with life changing consequences. It really is too bad that our system is structured in such a way that the opposition, which is supposed to perform a job, to ensure that the elected government stays on track, but in actuality they are only there trying to “get” a job.
If we did away with party lines and let each elected official stand on his or her own merit perhaps, our country could achieve some form of greatness. Then maybe each member could bring forward novel ideas on how to best run our country without being forced to keep mum for fear that someone other than the leading party provides the required forward movement. Or that everybody must be subjected to endless benign questions on who came in late and or who did not pay their share of the lunch ticket.
Any Canadian looking in on our elected officials on CPAC has to be totally, embarrassed with the performance. I know I am. I see them pounding on their desk hooting and hollering at one another, creating whatever kind of disturbance they can, to drown out anything said that they do not agree with. If they were children, even though they behave like children, no one ever gives them a time out or ask them to vacate the room until they grow up and learn how to behave. If ANY one of us did what I see in Parliament, at our place of employment, I know I would find myself in the unemployment line looking for a new job. Not to mention the sore butt from the boot that got me out the door.
Our government should be there to stimulate our economy, protect our borders, and educate our populous. They should be there to assist us all to achieve new heights, not create red tape to hamper new ideas. We are in a global economy where speed of action makes the difference between a successful endeavor and a stagnant pool. Instead, we waste our energy bickering about who got the bigger piece of pie, or who is mommy and daddy’s favorite. In the meantime, the rest of the planet looks on eating that pie.
The present Senate goings on, to me, only proves that it is time to rid ourselves of the deadwood. Let us forget whether the accommodation expense was legitimate or not. Sign the expense form, pay the bill, then let us make sure that it NEVER happens again.
The only SURE way to ensure that, is to ELIMINATE the “SENATE expense”….Lord knows we have been paying THAT expense without question, and that, since its creation. The sad part is we never receive any return on our investment for it.
Any business savvy person would tell you …….. CUT IT LOOSE.

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Well I have not been as diligent in writing in my blog as I had hoped to be at the start of the New Year. However, I am working on some other writing projects which I prefer to keep to myself, for now. I am presently in Brasil working out at sea, so for those that think ooh la la…Brasil don’t I wish I could go there……
Well I wish you all could visit the country as well. What I have seen of the country, which is very little, I find very lovely and the people quite accommodating. I still would love to see the Amazon River and tropical forest. Maybe someday, that will happen for me! Unless you speak Portuguese that can be a bit of a barrier but if you have some adventurous blood in you, it is manageable. Make a game of it and try to learn a word a day. I suppose that may be more applicable to people such as myself since I can spend months here working with the Brasilians, both onshore and out at sea.
For you perhaps a few classes in Portuguese would not be too far wrong either. Many of the businesses have English, speaking people at the counters. Certainly, in the major cities, this is true but further out is a different story. There is a large movement for kids or people to learn English. The country realizes that in a developmental situation the world is much more accommodating if you can speak English and this they advertise on large billboards “that with good English you will get a better job.”
Anyway, today was not really to talk about Brasil but I wanted to post something that I have already spoken about and a link can be found in my earlier postings. My eBook reader case has proven very successful in keeping my reader safe from damage while travelling and at work. It has also, as I suspected would happen, confused everyone in thinking that it is just a book when it is on the desk. They have ALL been surprised when I open it and out come an electronic eReader.
Many have expressed a desire to have their own and for that, I advised them to visit my blog where they will find the instructions. I was sure that I had included it earlier in my “Articles” for easy retrieval but since being here, I checked and found it was missing. So today, I made sure that if you simply go to my “Articles” under General headings you will find the article and the link, which will let you print a copy of to how to build an eReaderCase.
Hope you enjoy it

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Well with apologizes I must say that it has been sometime since I wrote anything or should I say posted anything. It’s not that I have not been thinking but more that I felt that much of it either did not apply to a blog per say. But then what does apply to a blog? Well I suppose Anything really. I am starting to start as well that the more I write the more critical I become and the more I internally try to justify what I might say. Dare I think that these thoughts are one of a writer?….HA HA that is certainly not a term that I would ever have applied to myself. However my next question would be but why not? By definition anyone that puts words to paper or in these days to screen can by definition call himself or herself a writer.
The point I suppose that stops people from applying the term to themselves might be, “I am not a GOOD writer?”…..Many and certainly, published writers that I have followed would say that the question is unimportant. The important point is that you DO write, and with that effort you may become better than you were yesterday and certainly superior today if you do write.
Over the years I have found that the more I put pen to paper to itemize steps required to perform given tasks the easier it becomes and the more I understand things myself. I have always enjoyed a good philosophical discussions. I believe that I equally enjoy hearing what other people think although I’m sure many might argue that point….sad and disappointing if true.
Recently I got involved in one of those discussion at work which even though I thought I had the question answered long ago, caused me to re-assess my viewpoint. My analysis of that dialog can be found in my Articles above. Sound

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Well it’s been near enough a year since I first started to blog in earnest. How has that worked for me? I must say I am quite satisfied of my achievements as a first go around. As in all things there is much more to learn and to paraphrase motivational speakers Mr. Don Tappscott and Mr. Anthony Williams in their book Wikinomics,http://www.wikinomics.com/blog/ the world is changing and technology has linked humanity in a way as never before in human history. One needs to learn it and adapt to it or face the prospect of personal irrelevance.
It is true that the web with all of its social networking, sites blogging, and access to information that we are more socially different today then our parents ever thought possible. Our work environments have forever changed and one’s ability to quickly access and process information will make anyone a force to be reckoned with. No longer are tasks so much assigned as they are taken up by individuals. Where once major corporations held fast to proprietary technology and data that today is seeing individuals surpass the obstacles with open collaboration.
People are inextricably linked today and the trend can only go to more rather than less. For sure in my own mind I believe that people perhaps share more than they should in the social media. Perhaps that is the transitional development from an older generation to the transitional generation to the up and coming one. One group does not fully understand what happens when the send button is depressed or what does posting something really mean, or what does it mean to navigate a secure site. The other group’s familiarity with each little functional icon which has a life of its own and they think nothing of broadcasting their location on their phone so their friends can know that they are nearby and can meet for coffee. They give little thought to the thief that equally can see that they are no longer at home or in the vicinity. Or equally believe that their transactions online are as private or free of prying eyes and ears as a transaction done as a sole client at the store counter.
The electronic footprint that each of us leave as we navigate the web for whatever reason and for as benign a reason as we might think remains to be something that we all will need to contend with in time to come. What impact all of this technology will eventually have remains to be discovered and I think thankfully our governments, or at least not yet, will they be the architects to determine how it will all be used. As proof I offer the various sites that one can today navigate which will indicate the residence of convicted criminals or pedophiles. Certainly this is not something that any government social worker would openly wish to advertise in their never ending belief that they can be re-habilitated. Maybe they can, but I would wager it is information that every mother with small children for sure is glad to know. No longer can the slick talker in a fancy suit sell his snake oil to the informed consumer who can today with the help of the consumer advocate groups or individual blogger sites or chat lines, openly advertise a warning of their own experience. Will there be abuses of the system is without question and the old adage of buyer beware remains one of our best defenses. Today we can access more data to make up our own minds and perhaps sometime too much information can be just as disastrous.
I started my blog which naturally I wish had more followers, but I believe that it will come with time and as I learn to better advertise myself. It has allowed me to share with some at least thoughts and opinions and in some ways help me to reflect why people sometimes behave the way that they do. It has also caused to me to be more aware of my surroundings and to research and or read or listen more deeply to politicians, predominate social leaders or to be saddened by the banality of where some of our entertainment media has gone.
As a follow up to my first published article Investment, I wrote the matting update Investment a year later what dividends?, as a reflection one year later. Both can be downloaded by following the link or by choosing either one in my “Article” heading at the top of this blog.